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There is overwhelming evidence that the profession needs to purposefully attend to its culture – but how can we make a start? James Pereira KC shares some thoughts, drawing upon modern organisational coaching principles
What does your chambers stand for? How would someone recognise a member of your chambers, compared to another? What are the prevalent values that mark how meetings are handled, business attended to, recruitment processes managed? What quality of relationship do clients and service providers experience? How adaptable and agile is it? How are new ideas greeted? How are contributions valued and acknowledged? How is conflict handled? How certain are you in your answers and would other members differ in theirs? How would the ‘right’ answer be discovered?
All these questions speak to chambers’ culture: the values, behaviours and loyalties that mark group belonging to your chambers, rather than another. These are the rules, often hidden, that govern relationships between members. The fact that many readers will find these questions odd, novel or difficult to answer is instructive in itself.
Many features of the self-employed Bar and the chambers system do not lend themselves to shared organisational values. We are a profession of individuals who tend to be confident in the correctness of our own opinions. We learn to thrive on self-sufficiency and value our independence. We compete against each other for work and face one another in court. There are cultural differences between practice areas within a set. Marked contrasts exist in the diversity between senior and junior ends of the profession. Accountability and transparency can seem illusory. For newcomers, it can feel as if unspoken rules of hierarchy and etiquette lie hidden like traps waiting to spring around every corner.
There is overwhelming evidence that the profession needs to purposefully attend to culture: the Bar Council’s Barristers’ Working Lives survey, data from the Talk to Spot initiative, the Bar’s surveys on diversity and on wellbeing, the Harman Review on bullying and harassment. As importantly, social media posts, networking and mentoring groups and all the quiet conversations between confidantes that we will never hear tell us a similar story.
There is no shame in this. It is inevitable that a professional system that has grown organically since the 13th century might need a revamp. Judgements aside, conflict and tensions in any organisation are simply the system calling for change. That is why these issues are called systemic. Since we are all part of the system, this is a collective responsibility.
How can we make a start? Here are some practical thoughts, drawing upon modern organisational coaching principles, and mindful of the specific context of the Bar. It is necessarily high level, hopefully enough to pique interest and start conversations. Starting is always the first step.
Navigating meaningful change for any organisation involves challenges. It helps to have an overview of what change might look like. Here are some basic points.
It is helpful to start at the end: what are we aiming for? A common way of embedding culture is to agree and record a common set of values or attributes that members support and then explain what they mean in practice.
The BSB’s Professional Statement follows this model. It identifies various competencies and then describes the behaviours that display the competency. For example, under ‘Personal Values and Standards’ we find a sub-category, ‘Be aware and active in the pursuit of equality and respect for diversity, not tolerating unlawful discrimination, in themselves or others’. Examples elaborate: ‘Promote diversity in the workplace and where appropriate challenge others if their behaviour does not comply…’
The Mindful Business Charter, which started within the legal sector, is another example. It provides an off-the-shelf collection of cultural values and behaviours that mark good, respectful work practice. It is supported by a wealth of resources and an active community. Legions of City law firms have signed up, and several chambers have followed suit. We can find helpful examples in other work contexts: check out the Clinical Human Factors Group good behaviour clinical cards, that give more explicit, scenario-based examples of behaviours that support cultural values.
All follow the same structure: they link the ‘what’ (the value) to the ‘how’ (the behaviour).
Getting to this destination involves asking a question, such as: what are the values and behaviours that we want to display to support the kind of chambers we want to be? To explore the answer might take the following steps.
First, ask, where are we now? This involves identifying what values are already in play, what works well and why; what needs attention; what is of the past and should be let go. Anonymous surveys can be helpful in identifying strengths, weaknesses, issues and common themes. Workshops for members facilitated by outside professionals can generate a wealth of helpful information and creativity to take the process forward. Professional standards and expectations will inform these discussions, but critically it is the people that make the place.
The second step might be to ask, what else do we need? The issues of concern, and the common ground and tensions within chambers identified at the earlier stage, will energise this question towards possible solutions.
The third step would reduce the outputs of these earlier stages to something tangible and meaningful. What are chambers core values? What behaviours will support them? What do those behaviours look like? How do we record them? How do we review them and maintain accountability?
Solutions to our problems that lie entirely in the hands of others are often not solutions at all. It is a truism in relationships that while we cannot force change on another, we can change the way we behave ourselves. By changing ourselves, we bring about change in others. Never make the mistake of underestimating your power.
Seen in this way, the individuality of the independent Bar is a strength. Within the realm of our own practices, we can each model the values and standards we aspire to. This applies to our dealings with clients and client teams, and also, critically, our dealings with fellow barristers, clerks and staff within and outside chambers. This is a common responsibility held between us all. And while senior members should take the lead, no-one is too junior: a pupil can model good behaviour to a budding Bar student, and very often it is the junior end of the profession who have the awareness and insight to model better behaviour than their more senior colleagues. Leadership can come from anyone, anywhere.
Change can start here with you.
Change is inevitable. The choice we have is whether we captain our own ship. I end with three observations about chambers and cultural change.
First, resistance is normal. Any chambers seeking to refresh its culture will face challenges. Partly this is a function of individuality. Partly it is a function of systemic dynamics. Living systems tend to behave in the interests of their self-preservation as a whole, favouring the survival of the group over the wellbeing of any one individual. Hence the response to change is usually resistance, unless the system itself faces an existential threat that demands the change. This insight normalises resistance, and sets it on a proper footing: not as an indicator that change should not happen, but as signal to be mindful of what needs to be acknowledged as change happens. A system’s loyalty to its own preservation is why regulation and intervention from higher authority is so important. It is existential.
Secondly, explicitly creating and attending to culture is in everyone’s interests. It brings unity and common ground to repair disunity and tension. It builds foundations to support diversity in all its senses, including generational, age and social diversity which is an increasing issue at the Bar that needs to be talked about. There is no more reason for senior practitioners to feel out of touch than there is for new recruits to feel unwelcome. Harnessing the collective resources, experiences and shared values of the profession will generate the best of what we have to offer and set sound foundations for the future.
Thirdly, there is a real need for chambers and the Bar to be less insular and more outward looking in their cultural development. The profession has a deep loyalty to learning by doing what has always been done. This works well when the examples are good and fit for purpose. But without discernment and oversight this cultural rule favours the persistence of poor standards above progress and change. If instead we allow ourselves to be guided by the normative touchstones of professional excellence and client service, we will find a wealth of learning outside our walls (see, for example, my earlier articles for Counsel on ‘Leadership and teamworking’ and with Zita Tulyahikayo on ‘Psychological safety’). In this way, we will support the dynamism, individuality and collective spirit that makes this such a great profession.
Bar Council support for barristers on equality, diversity and inclusion and wellbeing.
James Pereira KC is a practising barrister at FTB Chambers, a professional certified coach and NLP Master Practitioner, and a member of the International Coaching Federation. He coaches individuals and organisations from a range of business sectors, and is a co-founder of The Libra Partnership which provides coaching and training for barristers (www.thelibrapartnership.com). He is a contributing author to the book Lawyer Health and Wellbeing (Ark, 2020).
What does your chambers stand for? How would someone recognise a member of your chambers, compared to another? What are the prevalent values that mark how meetings are handled, business attended to, recruitment processes managed? What quality of relationship do clients and service providers experience? How adaptable and agile is it? How are new ideas greeted? How are contributions valued and acknowledged? How is conflict handled? How certain are you in your answers and would other members differ in theirs? How would the ‘right’ answer be discovered?
All these questions speak to chambers’ culture: the values, behaviours and loyalties that mark group belonging to your chambers, rather than another. These are the rules, often hidden, that govern relationships between members. The fact that many readers will find these questions odd, novel or difficult to answer is instructive in itself.
Many features of the self-employed Bar and the chambers system do not lend themselves to shared organisational values. We are a profession of individuals who tend to be confident in the correctness of our own opinions. We learn to thrive on self-sufficiency and value our independence. We compete against each other for work and face one another in court. There are cultural differences between practice areas within a set. Marked contrasts exist in the diversity between senior and junior ends of the profession. Accountability and transparency can seem illusory. For newcomers, it can feel as if unspoken rules of hierarchy and etiquette lie hidden like traps waiting to spring around every corner.
There is overwhelming evidence that the profession needs to purposefully attend to culture: the Bar Council’s Barristers’ Working Lives survey, data from the Talk to Spot initiative, the Bar’s surveys on diversity and on wellbeing, the Harman Review on bullying and harassment. As importantly, social media posts, networking and mentoring groups and all the quiet conversations between confidantes that we will never hear tell us a similar story.
There is no shame in this. It is inevitable that a professional system that has grown organically since the 13th century might need a revamp. Judgements aside, conflict and tensions in any organisation are simply the system calling for change. That is why these issues are called systemic. Since we are all part of the system, this is a collective responsibility.
How can we make a start? Here are some practical thoughts, drawing upon modern organisational coaching principles, and mindful of the specific context of the Bar. It is necessarily high level, hopefully enough to pique interest and start conversations. Starting is always the first step.
Navigating meaningful change for any organisation involves challenges. It helps to have an overview of what change might look like. Here are some basic points.
It is helpful to start at the end: what are we aiming for? A common way of embedding culture is to agree and record a common set of values or attributes that members support and then explain what they mean in practice.
The BSB’s Professional Statement follows this model. It identifies various competencies and then describes the behaviours that display the competency. For example, under ‘Personal Values and Standards’ we find a sub-category, ‘Be aware and active in the pursuit of equality and respect for diversity, not tolerating unlawful discrimination, in themselves or others’. Examples elaborate: ‘Promote diversity in the workplace and where appropriate challenge others if their behaviour does not comply…’
The Mindful Business Charter, which started within the legal sector, is another example. It provides an off-the-shelf collection of cultural values and behaviours that mark good, respectful work practice. It is supported by a wealth of resources and an active community. Legions of City law firms have signed up, and several chambers have followed suit. We can find helpful examples in other work contexts: check out the Clinical Human Factors Group good behaviour clinical cards, that give more explicit, scenario-based examples of behaviours that support cultural values.
All follow the same structure: they link the ‘what’ (the value) to the ‘how’ (the behaviour).
Getting to this destination involves asking a question, such as: what are the values and behaviours that we want to display to support the kind of chambers we want to be? To explore the answer might take the following steps.
First, ask, where are we now? This involves identifying what values are already in play, what works well and why; what needs attention; what is of the past and should be let go. Anonymous surveys can be helpful in identifying strengths, weaknesses, issues and common themes. Workshops for members facilitated by outside professionals can generate a wealth of helpful information and creativity to take the process forward. Professional standards and expectations will inform these discussions, but critically it is the people that make the place.
The second step might be to ask, what else do we need? The issues of concern, and the common ground and tensions within chambers identified at the earlier stage, will energise this question towards possible solutions.
The third step would reduce the outputs of these earlier stages to something tangible and meaningful. What are chambers core values? What behaviours will support them? What do those behaviours look like? How do we record them? How do we review them and maintain accountability?
Solutions to our problems that lie entirely in the hands of others are often not solutions at all. It is a truism in relationships that while we cannot force change on another, we can change the way we behave ourselves. By changing ourselves, we bring about change in others. Never make the mistake of underestimating your power.
Seen in this way, the individuality of the independent Bar is a strength. Within the realm of our own practices, we can each model the values and standards we aspire to. This applies to our dealings with clients and client teams, and also, critically, our dealings with fellow barristers, clerks and staff within and outside chambers. This is a common responsibility held between us all. And while senior members should take the lead, no-one is too junior: a pupil can model good behaviour to a budding Bar student, and very often it is the junior end of the profession who have the awareness and insight to model better behaviour than their more senior colleagues. Leadership can come from anyone, anywhere.
Change can start here with you.
Change is inevitable. The choice we have is whether we captain our own ship. I end with three observations about chambers and cultural change.
First, resistance is normal. Any chambers seeking to refresh its culture will face challenges. Partly this is a function of individuality. Partly it is a function of systemic dynamics. Living systems tend to behave in the interests of their self-preservation as a whole, favouring the survival of the group over the wellbeing of any one individual. Hence the response to change is usually resistance, unless the system itself faces an existential threat that demands the change. This insight normalises resistance, and sets it on a proper footing: not as an indicator that change should not happen, but as signal to be mindful of what needs to be acknowledged as change happens. A system’s loyalty to its own preservation is why regulation and intervention from higher authority is so important. It is existential.
Secondly, explicitly creating and attending to culture is in everyone’s interests. It brings unity and common ground to repair disunity and tension. It builds foundations to support diversity in all its senses, including generational, age and social diversity which is an increasing issue at the Bar that needs to be talked about. There is no more reason for senior practitioners to feel out of touch than there is for new recruits to feel unwelcome. Harnessing the collective resources, experiences and shared values of the profession will generate the best of what we have to offer and set sound foundations for the future.
Thirdly, there is a real need for chambers and the Bar to be less insular and more outward looking in their cultural development. The profession has a deep loyalty to learning by doing what has always been done. This works well when the examples are good and fit for purpose. But without discernment and oversight this cultural rule favours the persistence of poor standards above progress and change. If instead we allow ourselves to be guided by the normative touchstones of professional excellence and client service, we will find a wealth of learning outside our walls (see, for example, my earlier articles for Counsel on ‘Leadership and teamworking’ and with Zita Tulyahikayo on ‘Psychological safety’). In this way, we will support the dynamism, individuality and collective spirit that makes this such a great profession.
Bar Council support for barristers on equality, diversity and inclusion and wellbeing.
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